How Can I Tell If I’m Playing My MP3 Player Too Loudly?

Real Simple answers your questions.

Q. I turn up my tunes to drown out background noise. How high is too high?Chrissy LopezPittsburgh

A. Stay below the volume’s halfway point. For most electronics, this is in the safe zone of 80 decibels or below. “Any louder and, over time, you may suffer noise-induced hearing loss,” says Paul Farrell, an audiologist with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Listen to music through your headphones at your usual volume, then have a pal read this paragraph aloud (in her normal voice) while sitting within arm’s reach. CAN YOU HEAR HER? You should be able to. Be wary of ringing or muffled sounds after you remove your headphones: Both are signs that your tunes are too loud. Safe listening also depends on the amount of time you’re plugged in. According to a recent study in Belgium, participants experienced short-term hearing loss after listening to music on an MP3 player for just one hour; another study suggests that consistently listening to loud music for more than an hour could lead to permanent hearing loss after five years of exposure. So take periodic breaks for your ears to recover. And when choosing headphones, opt for over-the-ear models versus in-ear buds, which tend to produce sound at levels that are five decibels louder.

Your submission to RealSimple.com, including contact information, gives us the right to modify, use, distribute, reproduce, publish and display the submission indefinitely in all media, means, and forms without any payment to you. You hereby represent that you haven't copied the content from a book, magazine, newspaper, or other commercial source. Your submission to RealSimple.com, and your use of the website are subject to Real Simple's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.